“The Great Stink,” Clare Clark’s new novel, bases its story on real events surrounding the construction of London’s sewer system in the 19th century. In nonfiction, look for another account of the life of Buffalo Bill. In paperbacks, David Laskin’s “The Children’s Blizzard” explores a tragic winter storm in 1888. Look for a new biography of the late Beatle George Harrison in January.

FICTION

“The Great Stink,” by Clare Clark, Harcourt, 356 pages, $25|A novel based on the true story of a London heat wave in 1855, which convinced Parliament to build 80 miles of sewers and turn London into a modern city.

“The Stranger House,” by Reginald Hill, HarperCollins, 470 pages, $24.95|Two young people digging into their family histories find that their paths intersect at an inn and pub in the village of Illthwaite.

“Buffalo Bill’s America: William Cody and the Wild West Show,” by Louis S. Warren, Knopf, 652 pages, $30|Not just a biography, but an examination of the cultures of the eastern United States and Europe and their relationship with the American West.

“Just Another Soldier: A Year on the Ground in Iraq,” by Jason Christopher Hartley, HarperCollins, 328 pages, $23.95|The author takes the reader beyond what is aired every night on America’s TV screens and shows them the day-to-day realities of a soldier’s life in Iraq.

“Advice and Consent: The Politics of Judicial Appointments,” by Lee Epstein and Jeffrey A. Segal, Oxford, 180 pages, $23|The authors argue that the process of appointing federal judges is now and always has been political and that the current process is consistent with history.

PAPERBACKS

“Boyos,” by Richard Marinick, Kate’s Mystery Books, 274 pages, $12.95|Set in Southie, or South Boston, this is the brutal story of a young man on the rise in the criminal underground.

“The Children’s Blizzard,” by David Laskin, Harper Perennial, 307 pages, $13.95|Here is the story of a blizzard that suddenly blew up in 1888 on the Great Plains and killed 500 people, many of them children trapped in schoolhouses.

“The Covenant,” by Naomi Ragen, St. Martin’s Griffin, 276 pages, $12.95|The story of a woman whose husband and daughter go missing, igniting several days of terror and rekindling an agreement made years earlier in a Nazi concentration camp.

COMING UP

“Here Comes the Sun: George Harrison’s Spiritual and Musical Journey,” by Joshua M. Greene, Wiley, 272 pages, $25.95, January|Greene knew the former Beatle and has kept in touch with people close to him. The biography includes new anecdotes about Harrison and other musical greats of the period.

“Black Tide,” by Peter Temple, MacAdam/Cage, 360 pages, $24, November|The second in the Jack Irish series. Jack agrees to look for the missing son of Des Connors, the last remaining link to Jack’s father.

“Letters to a Young Artist,” by Anna Deavere Smith, Anchor, 192 pages, $13 (trade paperback), February |Smith looks back on her 30-year acting and teaching career to give advice for aspiring young artists and performers.

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